The present invention relates to a roll paper feeding apparatus for feeding paper from roll paper (including machine glazed paper) to an image forming unit of a printer, copier, facsimile machine, etc. and, more specifically, relates to a roll paper feeding apparatus having a mechanism of semi-automatically setting the tip portion of roll paper at a predetermined set position.
In conventional image forming apparatuses for producing recorded sheets for a large-size document such as a drawing, roll paper, rather than cut sheets, is loaded in a paper feeding unit, and paper supplied from the roll paper is cut into sheets of a desired size, which are then forwarded to an image recording unit.
In the above conventional image forming apparatuses, after the roll paper is loaded at a predetermined position, an operator brings the tip portion of the roll paper to a holding position (nip position) of a paper feed roller that consists of a drive roller and an idler roller while pinching the tip portion. In this state, the operator has the paper held by the paper feed roller and its tip portion set at a predetermined position (set position) by manually rotating the paper feed roller, to complete the roll paper setting operation. A paper feeding apparatus having such a roll paper setting mechanism is disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 1-187133.
However, in the conventional image forming apparatuses, since, as described above, the entire roll paper setting operation is manually performed by an operator, the operation is cumbersome.
Further, it may be the case that to facilitate the operation of inserting the paper tip portion between the drive roller and the idler roller of the paper feed roller, excessive paper is drawn out and the tip portion is formed into a loop before the setting. In such a case, due to difficulty in inserting the paper straight, the paper is likely to be set with a lateral deviation from the center line of paper feeding, which may cause oblique paper feeding or defects in a recorded image.